Batman: Arkham
by WhoThere
Summary: Ever wondered how Arkham Asylum came to be? Set in the early 1900's this story charts Amadeus's creation of the fearful Asylum we know today, read on to find out how his life unfolded and how everything is connected up until today.
1. Prologue

Gotham City

Arkham Hospital

1922

Martin "Mad Dog" Hawkins laughed. His shrill screech filled the whole hospital as two orderlies dragged him off down a large drab corridor. Blood stained his clothes and patches of it were on his face as well. His face, a picture of insanity, lunacy…illness; Mad Dog had been given a clean bill of health. He was supposed to sane again, normal; but he clearly wasn't.

"Take him back to his cell." Amadeus instructed the orderlies, his bearded pock marked face stared at the inmate. Lightening flashed violently lighting up the hallways and thunder crashed above them in the sky like it was the end of the world. Amadeus took off his glasses and rubbed them clean on his dark green waistcoat. He put them back on and gave off a deep sigh. He straightened out his dark olive green suit jacket and straightened his red tie. He walked off towards Mad Dog's cell.

The orderlies struggled to put the deranged man in back in his "cage". He fought and screamed, much like a mad dog would, hence the nickname.

"No! No!" Mad Dog screamed out. "I'm sorry!"

One of the orderlies kneed him in the stomach and threw him against the wall with great force. Amadeus watched the reinstated inmate lay on the floor, looking weak and helpless. But he knew his true colours; they were black like the night and red like the blood of his victims.

"You son of a bitch!" He screamed out.

"No, if anything you're the son of a bitch _Mad Dog_." Amadeus insulted him. "It's a shame you had to kill the girl; we had such high hopes for you. _I _had such high hopes for you; my first patient, my first cure." He turned to the orderlies. "You can leave us now." They nodded and left the cell.

Amadeus sat down on the hard uncomfortable bed, he sighed once more and looked at the "mess" he saw on the floor before him. "I could have left you to the police, I could have left you with some other doctor that didn't care for you after what you did to my family but I didn't did I? No, when you murdered my wife and daughter, after you raped and killed them you were brought to me by the police and I took you in. I wanted to help you Martin; make you well again."

Mad Dog sat on the floor panting, twitching at times even. He looked up at Amadeus with woeful eyes.

"But what did you go and do? You killed a girl in an ally. Raped her and then stabbed her several times, to what ends I might ask, what did you hope to achieve?"

"I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry." He murmured.

"No, I'm sorry son. You're what we call a lost case; you're too far fallen into the darkness with no hope of salvation. When an animal is in too greater pain you put it out of its misery. Seen as you go by the name Mad Dog I find it only fitting I treat you same as an animal."

"No, I did it to see you again! Please, I'm sorry!" Mad Dog begged.

"As am I son; as am I." Amadeus said whilst pulling out a knife from inside his jacket and swiftly plunging it into Mad Dogs neck. He put his hand over his mouth to muffle the screams; blood shot out and splattered on the walls, floor and even on Amadeus himself. Mad Dog grabbed his arm as life faded away from him and squirmed about. "It'll all be over soon Martin."

Mad Dog went limp. His body fell to the floor and his grip loosened from Amadeus's arm; he fell to the floor with a dull thud. Amadeus stood up and looked at the now deceased inmate. Blood still ran out of him and created a large puddle on the floor, he could see his reflection in it, the reflection of a killer? No, not a killer, a liberator; a man doing God's work. A life for a life, he put the knife in Mad Dogs hand. It would be his word over…well no ones really. Who would care about a dead psychopath anyway? This was the first step into truly saving Gotham; Amadeus's work had only just begun.

**B A T M A N**

A R K H A M


	2. One

Metropolis

Metropolis University

1920

Doctor Amadeus Arkham stood in front of his class, his bright and amazing class full of brilliant students that he'd come to love equally over the past few years he'd taught them. A Doctor of Psychology, he'd passed all his knowledge onto his pupils and hoped that they would make it as fully fledged psychologists wherever they chose to go.

He took off his glasses and rubbed them in his grey waistcoat and smiled. "It's been a long time we've all been together, even longer considering its psychology." He chuckled and so did the class. "But jokes aside I'm very proud of you all, you've proved to me that you're all capable of becoming what you aspire to be."

One student raised his hand and Amadeus nodded. "I know, I know; your exam results haven't come back yet but to be honest I have no doubt you all passed with flying colours." He looked at his watch. "Time to say goodbye, the day has now finished and this is the last time you'll see me here, this is the last time you'll even come here." He smiled.

The students all lined up one by one, the men shook his hand firmly and the women hugged him. After they'd all said their goodbyes another professor at the university walked in, a friend of Amadeus's.

"It hurts losing such fine students doesn't it?" The professor said.

"Yes, it does Bernard."

"What will you do now the year is over, all that free time?"

"Well I've finished here," He said. "I've taught all I think I can teach, I think it's time to go back home and spend time with my family instead of only a few weeks on holidays."

"Back home you say,"

Amadeus nodded. "Back to Gotham."

Gotham City

Arkham Mansion

Amadeus rang the doorbell on the large doors of Arkham Mansion. It didn't sound like the traditional "ding-dong" of a door bell but more like the ringing of large church bells. It seemed to echo in the cold night air of Gotham. The city was still the same as when Amadeus had left it last, it never changed, Gotham had a grimy feeling to it, a feeling of it being unclean. The crime didn't help matters, muggings, theft, arson and the occasional rapings. It disgusted him; someone should do something about it.

The large doors were opened by a very beautiful eighteen year old girl that instantly shook Amadeus out of his dark thoughts. This beautiful girl, who was quickly becoming a woman, was named Harriet, Amadeus's daughter.

"Daddy you're back!" She exclaimed and jumped into his arms.

"Yes I am." He smiled with pure joy, she made him feel warm and happy inside. She made him feel like he'd blessed the earth with the most precious thing ever. "This time I'm here to stay Harriet. With you, your Mother and your Grandmother."

Instantly Harriet's smile died and she let go of her Father.

"What is it sweetheart?" He asked worried.

"It's about Grandmother. I'm sorry but…she…she." tears rolled down her face and Amadeus grabbed her immediately.

"It's ok, just tell me what happened." He asked quietly even though he already knew the answer.

Amadeus stood in the middle of his Mothers room looking into thin air. The room was old, bits of wood on the ceiling had rotted away and the walls had damp patches which caused it to rot. He walked over to the dresser in the corner of her room and saw a tattered diary sat upon it next to various bottles of makeup that were never really used.

"I'm sorry Amadeus." His wife Constance said softly whilst putting her hand on his shoulder. "One of the maids found her when she was on her rounds of cleaning the mansion. She had hanged herself."

"When?" His voice was just a horse whisper now.

"A week ago, I wanted to tell you but I didn't want to have to do it over the phone."

"Leave me." He said. "Please."

As Constance left Amadeus simply stared; his wasn't staring at anything in particular just into nothing. He had loved his Mother with all his heart. However she had not been well for a long time now. Elizabeth Arkham had suffered from a mental illness. She would scream and yell about seeing demons in her room; demons that would fight each other for the possession of Gotham's soul. It was this city's fault; it had driven his Mother insane and eventually led to her inevitable death. Amadeus picked up the old dishevelled dairy and opened its pages. He read the first passage.

_**Dear Amadeus,**_

_**If you are reading this then I must be dead, the demons have finally won. This urban cesspool of a city we call home is nothing more then a deformity; a cancer that needs to be cut out. This city needs someone who is willing to do that. It needs a Doctor, you are that surgeon Amadeus. You must rid Gotham of its murders, thief's, rapists and psychopaths. You must become an instrument of Gotham. You must become the Judge, jury and executioner. If you don't then it will fall into the hands of these diseased lunatics and will be lost forever. You must start now.**_

Days would pass, days that turned into weeks. Christmas and New Year was bypassed for Amadeus who sat in his room reading his Mothers dairy, weeping at times, trying to cope with her death. Inside it detailed the demons that had haunted her, the ones who would fight for Gotham's soul. The demons that haunted her all had separate meanings and represented different aspects of life.

However there were two demons that haunted her the most, one was a cruel and demonic monster whose only pleasure in life was pain, destruction and chaos, he was named Rej` Othekre. The demon that fought him was pure darkness and fed off the evil, he was named. Te` Mathban. They duelled for Gotham's soul again and again, locked in combat for years with no clear victor.

What Amadeus read broke his heart, his Mother had been alone at the times she needed help the most. She had died alone and he was not there to help her. He stroked his chin that now had the signs of a grey beard and moustache growing. The Arkham Mansion had now fallen into his ownership, he was the heir to it and all that came with it, which consisted of quite a lot of money. After all an insane person needs no money to buy trinkets or treat themselves to finery.

Over the passing days Amadeus had a series of thoughts strike him, the message his Mother had left him had stuck with him. What if Gotham did need a Doctor and he was the only person to save the city from failing into deeper darkness. What if he tried to help the insane and the deranged back to normal health, fix what had gone wrong in their heads and make them part of society once more.

Amadeus, Constance and Harriet sat at their large dining room table. The fire place roared with heat and illuminated anything within a few feet of it. The large crystal chandeliers above them lit up the rest of the room that the fire could not reach. Dinner was large as usual. Everything about this house was larger than usual.

Amadeus cleared his throat as a way to grab Constance's and Harriet's attention. "As you know this mansion is now in my name now that –" He couldn't bring himself to say the words that his Mother was dead.

"Daddy?" Harriet said.

"Yes, sorry. Like I was saying, this mansion is now in my name and I've been thinking for the past few months about what to do with it."

"What to do with it?" Constance asked. "We live in it of course Amadeus, like any family would."

"Yes, true. You would have your own wing –"

Once again Constance butted in. "Our own wing? What are you talking about?"

"Please." He said slightly raising his voice along with his hand shaking a little.

"Don't get angry," Harriet told him, almost like a nurse or a doctor; or even a Mother. "You need to stay calm; you've been through a horrible shock as it is. We all have."

Amadeus took a deep breath. "I know Harriet, thank you dear." He composed himself slightly and tried to explain for the third time. "I'm turning this mansion into a Hospital; it's going to be dedicated to helping sick people."

Constance reeled back at the thought. "Sick people here, what if we catch their illnesses."

"Mother!" Harriet snapped.

"I'm sorry dear, that was insensitive of me but do you think it's wise to have these ill people here. We don't have the right equipment to help them or the staff for that matter."

"Not that kind of ill, I'm talking about ill in the mind. A mental illness, similar to what Mother has…had." He corrected himself whilst still feeling that aching stabbing pain in his heart.

"Mental illness," Harriet began. "So you're going to try and help them back to health, back to sanity?"

"Exactly," Amadeus smiled, he saw so much of himself in his beautiful daughter. He could tell she liked the idea, he could tell maybe she would even want to help. "There are too many people in Gotham suffering; some become reclusive, violent and even murderous because they don't have the help that they so desperately need."

"Murderous." Constance repeated.

"I know, I didn't expect you to embrace the idea straight away, I would be a fool if I thought that. But these patients will be kept in the rooms at all times, under lock and key and I would help them. A few of my ex-students could even help them; I could hire them to come and work for me."

"So that's what you have been doing in your room all this time," Constance said. "You've been planning and playing with our lives to fit into your mad scheme."

"What's so mad about trying to help someone else?" He shouted. "What's so bad about trying to make a difference in our short but miserable lives while we are here?"

She didn't reply.

"I'm going to open up this mansion, it will be a hospital and it will help the mentally ill." He stormed off out of the dinning room slamming the large doors behind him. His dream would come true no matter who stood in his way.

Once again days passed, days of trying to track down his ex-students. Most of them had been snapped up fairly quickly; their results must have been outstanding like he predicted they would be. But five Doctor's stood out; they had always shone from day one, Edward Miller, Virginia Gideon, Grace Hughes, Donald McMillan and Richard Maybury. Amadeus knew these were the people he needed for his plan to save Gotham see the light of day.

"Hello, is that Edward Miller?"

"Is that Virginia Gideon?"

"Is a Grace Hughes there?"

"Donald is that you there?"

"Richard; It's Doctor Arkham, I have a proposition for you."

He rang each and every one of them individually explaining the situation, explaining his dream to them and all of them agreed. After all how could they turn down an offer like this? It was new, nothing like this had ever been done in Gotham before which in a way was ironic as Gotham needed it the most. Amadeus offered to pay them more then a fair amount as their salary and the position and responsibility he was giving them was amazing. They all said they could be there as soon as possible but Amadeus replied the same every time.

"No, no. Not yet, the hospital isn't ready. I'll call you when you're all needed."

Grace Hughes however, who was working at Metropolis State Psychiatric Hospital, had been given her first case there and, as she put it "needed help from an expert", if Amadeus did this one favour then she would agree to help him; naturally he agreed.

Metropolis

Metropolis State Psychiatric Hospital

"Grace Hughes." Amadeus smiled broadly. "You've grown so much."

They hugged each other like a mentor and a student would.

"I can't believe it's been almost a year since we last saw each other. My student has all grown up, but nevertheless; reliving old memories is not what I came here to do."

Grace handed him a chart. "His name is Martin Hawkins but is referred to by everyone including himself as "Mad Dog". His previous crimes are murder, rape and theft. I can't seem to get him to open up whatsoever, perhaps you could help."

Amadeus nodded in agreement. Grace led him to Mad Dog's cell which was padded from the inside. The inmate was wearing a grubby straight jacket. He twitched and sniffed the air, occasionally licking his lips. This man had truly been touched by insanity.

"Two guards will be posted outside at all times." Grace told him.

Amadeus entered the cell and stared at the inmate. "Hello Martin, My name is Doctor Amadeus Arkham; do you want me to help you?"

Mad Dog looked up; his whole body jolted inhumanly when he did this. "You asked me." He said slowly and almost if he was panting.

"Yes that's right, do you want me to help you Martin; because if you don't then I will leave you in peace."

"No!" He shouted. "Please don't leave."

"Ok I won't." Amadeus sat down on the floor.

"Do you care for me Doctor?" Mad Dog asked, his eyes batting back and forth like he could see something no one else could but his voice remained calm.

"Yes."

"But you don't know me, I'm a bad boy."

"Just because I don't know you does not mean I don't want to help you or care for you. I want you to get better Martin."

"I want you to kiss me."

"Pardon?" Amadeus asked confused.

"Hold me, like a Father would, not like my filth of a Father did!" He spat. "You must care for me, no ones ever cared for me, no one's ever asked if I want to get better they have simply presumed I wanted to get better and then force fed me pills and needles…I don't like needles!" He screamed. "I like knives though, cutting is good."

"Why is cutting good?"

"Because it makes you feel." Mad Dog said darkly.

Amadeus's words ran through his head as he watched this crazed man talk to him and twitch and shiver. This man was in pain and all he wanted was to be was made healthy again, but not here. Not in Metropolis, he needed to be brought back to Gotham as soon as possible. A room could be given to him with orderlies outside at all times. This was his first patient and he was not going to let him fall into the darkness.

"Martin, I have a Hospital in Gotham. If you want it can get you transferred there where I can begin helping you, would you like that?"

"I could live with you, I knew you cared for me…I knew it!"

"I'll take that a yes then?"

Mad Dog nodded wildly.

"Ok, I'll see you soon Martin."

"Doctor," Mad Dog said calmly with a flash of eeriness over his face. "Me and you together for ever." He smiled sadistically whilst licking his lips.

Amadeus left the cell and Grace quickly ran up to him. "How did it go?" She asked eagerly.

"I'm going to have him transferred to my Hospital, luckily whilst I was contacting you all I managed to register my Hospital with great ease. They seemed extremely welcome to the idea in Gotham."

"Well I'm not surprised," Grace said. "Gotham has gone to the dogs so to speak…no offence of course."

"No, none taken; that's why it's our jobs to make a difference. Make it a safer place."

"So Mad Dog responded to you well?"

"Use his proper name please." Amadeus corrected her.

"Yes of course, sorry."

"Martin did react to me well, perhaps a little too well. I showed him that I cared but perhaps that may have been a small mistake as he latched on to it. I'm guessing he was abused as a child and never shown any real love or caring and desperately craves it. It could possibly be why he kills, to get some form of attention, be it good or bad."

"And this is why I called you in." Grace smiled.

Amadeus laughed. "I'm glad you did though, I think Martin could be my first patient and perhaps my first cure if all works out well."

With the paper worked sorted out unbelievably quickly Mad Dog was ready to be transferred. It almost seemed that they wanted to get rid of him as quickly as possible and didn't really care where he went. Two armed guards walked into Mad Dog's cell. Once again he licked his lips and felt his tongue run across his goatee which strangely enough was black whilst his hair was light blonde and receding at that. Mad Dogs eyes never left the two guards, not even for a second.

"You're being transported to Gotham." One of the guards told him.

Mad Dog smiled devilishly. "I'd hold out my hands but I'm a little tied up."

"Just get up," The other guard ordered whilst hauling him to his feet.

"You're the boss."

Mad Dog was taken to a secure van outside where Amadeus and Grace were watching. "Be seeing you soon Doctor." He said whilst winking at him.

"He seems to like you." Grace said slightly unnerved.

"Maybe he found some common ground in me."

The journey back to Gotham was a long one and somewhere along the way Amadeus had been split up from the van holding Mad Dog inside thanks to a motorist who had clearly forgot the rules of the road and nearly caused a crash with an oncoming car. The van still carried on; if they arrived at Gotham early then they would wait. Inside the van along with the driver were the two guards who had escorted the mad man out of the building earlier on.

Mad Dog rolled his head and moaned. "Are we there yet?"

"Shut up." One of the guards said roughly.

Mad Dog scoffed. "That's not very nice."

"And I suppose what you've done is the height of politeness, you've killed innocent people and you've raped them as well you sick bastard."

"Not necessarily in that order, I don't want people thinking I'm some kind of weirdo." He laughed. "Where are we, are we in Gotham yet?"

"Yes, now shut the hell up!" The van driver shouted.

"I can't believe that someone in their right mind would want to help you."

"And I can't believe someone in their unhinged mind hasn't ripped your arms off and beat you to death yet."

"You really are a sick son of a bitch aren't you?" The other guard said.

Mad Dog looked at him, licked his lips and snarled slightly. "Leslie isn't it, and Thompson? What both of you fail to understand is that it's not my fault; I'm only doing what Daddy taught me to do; which is this." He lunged at Thompson and head butted him in the temple which knocked him out cold straight away. He then kicked Leslie who tried to get to get to his feet first but was too slow.

"Come on!" Mad Dog shouted whilst kicking him in the head repeatedly.

"Holy shit!" The driver exclaimed and pulled in to a lay by on the side of the road. He got out and ran to the back doors of the van not thinking about the consequences, namely Mad Dog jumping out at him and kicking him into a bloody pulp, which is exactly what happened.

"Never screw with a lunatic." Mad Dog laughed whilst running off into the nearby woods. His mission was simple. Go and find the hospital Amadeus would be at and surprise him there. He needed to be near Amadeus, he was the only person to show that he cared for him ever.

The moon shone bright upon Gotham City and all its inhabitants, this would truly be a night that Amadeus would remember, by allowing this mad man to be transported to Gotham, by showing him the smallest shred of care he had endangered everyone. It was hard to believe that from something good could come something so bad.


End file.
